How to enter Unicode characters in Microsoft Windows

Summary

A small utility called UnicodeInput helps with entering these characters.

This is how to enter any Unicode character in Microsoft Windows.

There are definitely other (more efficient) ways to do it, but this should work in a pinch.

Tested on Windows 10 Pro x64.

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Detail

Method 1: Universal

This method works regardless of any of your language settings, but is the most cumbersome to type.

1. Press and hold down the Alt key.
2. Press the + (plus) key on the numeric keypad.
3. Type the hexidecimal unicode value.
4. Release the Alt key.

Alas, this appears to require a registry setting. It was already set on my computer, but some readers report that this method didn't work for them, and this is probably why. If you don't know what the registry is, please don't try this. Under HKEY_Current_User/Control Panel/Input Method, set EnableHexNumpad to "1". If you have to add it, set the type to be REG_SZ.

Method 2: Input-language Specific

This method depends on the specific input language you are using.

1. Press and hold down the Alt key.
2. Type 0 (zero) and the decimal unicode value on the numeric keypad.
3. Release the Alt key.

You can see which input language you are using (and which are installed) by:

1. Start Menu
2. Settings
3. Control Panel
4. Regional and Language Options
5. Languages tab
6. Detail button

The entries in the Unicode character information section are using the Windows Latin 1 input language.

Method 3: Code-page Specific

This method depends on the specific code page you have installed.

1. Press and hold down the Alt key.
2. Type the decimal codepage value on the numeric keypad. Do not type any leading zeros.
3. Release the Alt key.

You can see which code page you have by typing chcp at a command prompt. Check the grid for your code page from the list of known code pages to see what characters you can enter this way.

The entries in the Unicode character information section are using code page 437.

Method 4: Application-specific

Applications can support their own methods. These are not standardized.

Several Microsoft applications, including WordPad and Microsoft Word:
press Alt-X after typing some hex digits. You see the digits as you type them, and they're replaced by the Unicode equivalent. Pressing Alt-X again converts it back to numbers.

Method 5: Unicode IME

Microsoft has a Unicode Input Method ?Editor? that works the same way my UnicodeInput pop-up does, but with LeftAlt Shift as the trigger key.

Michael Kaplan, a Microsoft i18n guru, has the details on how the Unicode IME works. Some notes to fill in some details that he assumes:

• Go into Control Panel -> Regional Settings, on the languages tab, enable support for East Asian languages. This takes 230 MB of disk space and a restart.
• Go back into Control Panel -> Regional Settings, on the languages tab, press the Details button.
• Add Chinese (Taiwan) (Others would probably work too) and choose Chinese (Traditional) - Unicode.
• You will now have an extra do-hickey in the taskbar showing which language you're in.
• Press LeftAlt Shift to switch into the IME (taskbar shows CH).
• Type the hex digits of the Unicode character. As soon as you type the last one, it is sent to the application.
• Press LeftAlt Shift to switch out of the IME (taskbar shows your original language code).

Tips

• Fonts - you must have a font that contains the character. It seems obvious, but Windows can't display characters it doesn't know about. Often, you will need to select the font yourself, since only a few applications are smart enough to switch fonts automatically.
• WordPad - works, but you have to have it set to a font that contains the character. Method 4 ([hex][AltX]) seems to switch to an appropriate font automatically.
• Notepad - generally doesn't work since its font doesn't support many characters.
• Internet Explorer - in the URL bar, the universal method doesn't work if it has A-F, since it opens the menu (i.e. Alt-F opens the File menu).
• Mozilla Firebird - works correctly (if you have a font that supports it). Note that if you type it on a page that is is using a charset that doesn't support it, it will not be transmitted to the website correctly.

References

• The Alt+NumPad entry in Microsoft's Global Windows Glossary
• Windows XP docs that inexcusably don't mention the universal variation.
• Discussion on GeorgeHernandez.com (search for "2005-04-24") - discussion of the various problems with someone who did some real work to figure out what works and doesn't. He also has a Unicode shortcuts page that summarizes his findings (quite similar to this page, but with more detail).
• Wikipedia article Unicode_input with some Mac and Linux tips.

Add OEM Information and Logo in System Properties and Settings Page in Windows

Computer manufacturers usually include their OEM brand info and logo in System Properties applet when preinstalling Windows. This article tells you how to add or modify the custom OEM information strings in the System Properties window in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and Windows 10. In Windows 10, the custom strings are shown in the modern Settings app (About your PC page) as well.

Add OEM Information and Logo in System Properties

1. Click Start, type regedit.exe and press ENTER

2. Navigate to the following location

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OEMInformation

If the OEMInformation key is missing, you’ll need to create one manually.

3. Create string values (REG_SZ) and add matching data, as per the table below:

Value name	Data	Value type
Logo	{Path to your logo file}*	REG_SZ
Manufacturer	{System manufacturer name}	REG_SZ
Model	{System Model number}	REG_SZ
SupportHours	{Support hours}	REG_SZ
SupportPhone	{OEM Support Phone number}	REG_SZ
SupportURL	{OEM Support URL}	REG_SZ

4. Exit Registry Editor.

* Note: The logo should be a BMP file with the dimension of 120×120. Logos larger than 120×120 pixels are scaled to 120×120. Place the file in the C:\Windows\System32\ folder and name it OEMlogo.bmp

You can also create a OEMInfo.reg file with the following contents

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OEMInformation]
"SupportHours"="Monday-Friday: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (CST)"
"SupportURL"="http://www.dell.com/support/contents/us/en/19/Category/Product-Support/Dell-Subsidiaries/alienware-support-site/?~ck=mn"
"SupportPhone"="1-800-624-9897"
"Manufacturer"="Alienware"
"Logo"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\OEMlogo.bmp"
"Model"="Aurora R5"

Change the data as appropriate for your system. Save it and by double clicking on it, it will offer to add it to the registry for you.

* Note: The file path to the logo must be entered with double back-slashes or it will be ignored by the Registry.

Sample

I’ve customized the support information page by populating it with sample entries. Here is the screenshot:

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And the related registry entries.

Windows 10 – System Settings (About) Page

This also works in Windows 10. In Windows 10, the OEM information would be displayed in the classic System information applet as well as in the modern System Settings > System > About page.

For illustration, I used this settings (in the same key as above).

And this is how it appears in the Settings > System > About page.

However, since the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (v1607), OEM logo is ignored and not displayed in the Settings page.

Kingston HyperX Savage USB Flash Drive HXS3/64GB

I recently purchased this drive as an impulse item on Amazon on checkout. Can never have too many USB drives, especially High Speed ones.

The drive came with a small loop to attach to a lanyard and nothing else.

Here is a quick test on an Alienware Aurora R5 using the top panel USB 3.0 port

System Config

• System:  Alienware R5
• CPU:     Intel i7-6700K @ 4.0GHz
• RAM:     32GB 2100 RAM
• Video:   NVIDIA GTX 1080 FE
• Boot:    PC300 NVMe SK hynix 512GB SSD
• Scratch: Smamsung 840 EVO 128GB SSD
• Data:    WD Black 7200rpm 6TB HD

Crystal DiskMark 5.2.0 x64

Windows Version GUI

To find out your version of Windows

• Click Start or press the Windows button on your Keyboard
• Type winver
• Press Enter

How To Remove Duplicate OneDrive Entry

To resolve your concern regarding duplicated OneDrive entry, follow the steps below:

1. Search for regedit, and then press Enter.
2.  Select HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
3.  Go to SOFTWARE.
4.  Click on Microsoft.
5.  Select Windows.
6.  Go to CurrentVersion.
7.  Click on Explorer.
8.  Select Desktop.
9.  Click on NameSpace.
10.  Check if you have several folders under NameSpace.
11.  If there are several folders, highlight each folder, and then check the name of the Data on the right hand side.

     12. If you see multiple folders with OneDrive as the Data, right click on it, and then select Delete.

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

How to back up and restore registry and Creating a system restore point.

How to Migrate Office 2013 or 2016 to new computer

This is the process.

1. Install Office 2013 or 2016 on the new computer.
2. Run windows updates
3. Make sure both computers are not currently in Outlook
4. Copy the entire outlook data folder to your new computer.  I am not providing directions for this.  You should know what your doing here (or use google).
5. Now you will have a copy of outlook data (PST’s) in both locations.
6. Copy over any internet shared calendars from your old machine to the new machine.  File location is here, and it would be sitting in the root if it exists:
   • C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
7. On your old machine run REGEDIT.  EXPORT this entire key which contains all your email account settings.
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles\Outlook
   • Note: If you are on a different version of outlook the version 16.0 will be a different number.
8. Copy that REG file to your new PC and double click and let it insert it into the registry
9. Move over any signatures from your old computer to your new computer.  Those are located here:
   • C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures
   • Note: You probably should just copy the entire folder and paste it in the same place on your new PC.
10. Launch Outlook on the new PC.  Pick your profile and set as default.  Then go update each accounts’ passwords.  Once you update the passwords you will be able to resume doing email exactly as you were doing it on the old PC.